Tech, Autos, & Gear in Layman's Terms Since 2006

2012Archive

Last week we begin a series of review posts regarding the new joint venture between Walmart and American Express. Bluebird is a system that allows you to have a card with minimal or no transaction fees coupled with the convenience of a debit card backed by all of the protection offered by American Express. The …

It is not terribly surprising that oodles of new devices were opened up and activated on Christmas morning – in fact, we had three new iPhone 5 activations in our house alone! The site Flurry.com tracks and estimates the daily activations of iOS and Android devices, and is reporting that more than 17 million activations …

From now until 2013, we’re going to take a look at some New Year’s Resolutions and a Gear Diary way to help you keep them. New Year Resolution: Get in Shape in 2013 It’s a new year and you’ve decided to make it a new you! So you’re really going to buckle down and get …

A year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to review an incredibly useful mobile device that quickly and easily doubles your screen real-estate. The FieldMonitorPro is a large screen that, right out of the box, extends your computer to give you additional screen space or allows someone/s to look at your computer screen …

What a world we live in – We now have computers that fit in our pockets, gorgeous televisions that are 1″ thick, and a dude who skydived from the edge of space. Continuing along that vein, now you can program your credit card sized computer, otherwise known as the Raspberry Pi, to open your garage …

Over the Christmas holiday, Randi Zuckerberg (Mark Zuckerberg’s sister and former director of Marketing at Facebook) posted a picture of her family around the kitchen island having fun, and someone else shared the image on Twitter. This was picked up on Buzzfeed and more thoroughly explained on GigaOm amongst other places. Zuckerberg called the person …

Truth be told, I’ve always been a fan of Speck’s product design, though I haven’t owned any of their products for any of my devices. So I was very excited when I got the opportunity to review their WanderFolio Luxe iPad case. The WanderFolio Luxe is made with top-grain leather and has pockets for your …

From now until 2013, we’re going to take a look at some New Year’s Resolutions and a Gear Diary way to help you keep them. First up… New Year Resolution: Spend Less on Cellular in 2013 republic wireless offers one single handset. If you want more choices you need to go somewhere else. republic wireless …

The first thing I did when I received the Aquila iPhone 5 Leather Case by Aranez, was sniff it for that real leather smell. My nose (and the case’s specifications) confirmed that this case is made from genuine cow leather. This case is extremely lightweight, yet feels sturdy enough to protect your iPhone 5 from …

This is the third of three Incipio iPhone 5 case reviews. This time out we are looking at the STASHBACK Dockable Credit Card Case. This case looks like a simple shell style iPhone 5 case but it doubles as a wallet. Better yet, it is not apparent to anyone looking at the case that it …

I was blown away earlier this month when I went snorkeling and used my 4th generation iPod touch as my underwater camera. I expected the LifeProof case I put on would keep it dry, and it did. What I didn’t expect was how amazing the video I shot with it underwater would be. I mean, take …

This is the second of three Incipio iPhone five case reviews we have going up. The first case was a simple slider case that didn’t offer much excitement. This time out we’re taking a look at the Incipio Stowaway for iPhone 5. It is a far more compelling case thanks to two unique features hidden …

Various developers have been trying since the original iPad to make enhanced and video eBooks a success. There seems to be this impression that books+tablet+video=profit! Yet plain old eBooks have managed to hold their ground quite nicely, leaving the question of whether there’s really a market for a book with video, music, and other bells …

Incipio has released a wide range of different cases for the iPhone 5. A few months ago we reviewed a number of them. Now we’ve got a look at three more. First up, is the Incipio EDGE PRO Co-molded Hard-Shell Slider Case. This is a simple slider case with a unique design. Here’s a look. …

When the Samsung Galaxy S3 arrived it had Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the operating system. Since the release, Android Jelly Bean 4.1 launched with the Nexus 7, and more recently 4.2 Jelly Bean also arrived. While Ice Cream Sandwich had loads of great features, Jelly Bean was a smaller update – but what …

I’m a fan of SPIGEN SGP’s products. From the GLAS.t screen protector (read the review) to the Hardbook Case for the iPad mini (read the review) their products never fail to impress me. So when our contact at the company emailed me that a new case was on the way and he described it as …

I’ve often said (including here on Gear Diary, I think), that in the kitchen you’re either an Alton or a Mario. “Altons” refer to Alton Brown, the Mr. Wizard of the Food Network who combines science and math with recipes to teach you how to cook and why precision is important. I’m an Alton. “Marios” …

My first reaction when I received the ibattz mojo Hi5 Powerbank Case was underwhelming. Here you have a plastic shell that you slap on your phone like most cases, and a separate battery pack that clips onto the plastic shell that needs to be plugged into your iPhone with a lightning cable. Here’s the rub: …

Apple has a reputation and standing as one of the best customer support organizations in all of the consumer world. They top the ratings each year; due to their retail stores, the ability to quickly talk to someone knowledgeable has made using Apple products easier than ever for millions of folks. Truth is, in more …